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- I think I'm home I think I'm home How nice to look at you again Along the road Along the road Anytime you want me You can find me living right between your eyes, yeah Oh, I think I'm home Oh, I think I'm home -Today on "Cook's Country," Christie makes Julia a show-stopping Oregon blackberry pie, Jack challenges Bridget to a tasting of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, and Bridget and Julia make an easy one-pan supper -- roasted salmon with broccoli and red potatoes. That's all right here on "Cook's Country." -In terms of geographic origin, blackberries were the most widely grown fruit, so it's no surprise that humans have been eating them for a long, long time. -In fact, in Denmark, archaeologists found blackberries in the belly of a well-preserved woman that lived roughly 2,500 years ago. -Yet blackberries were used for more than just food. They were also medicinal. -The Romans treated a variety of illnesses with blackberry tea, and the Arabs considered them an aphrodisiac. -Now, here in the U.S., Oregon is the leading producer of blackberries, with over 45 million pounds grown every year. -So it's no surprise that they know a thing or two about cooking with them, and today, Christie is going to show us how to make Oregon blackberry pie. A blackberry pie is quite different than other fruit pies or even other berry pies, but Christie is here to show us all the tricks. -That's right, Julia. Blackberry pie is different because of the texture. Blueberry pies, cherry pies tend to be a little loose, a little bit runny, but blackberry pie has a firmer, thicker consistency so that, when you go to slice it, you can actually get a nice, clean slice. -Aha. -So our challenge was to get this great thicker texture without obscuring the really bright, tart, sweet flavor of the blackberries. Well, we're going to start with the crust first. We're going to make an all-butter crust today. -Ooh, I love all-butter crusts. -They're great, but they're sometimes a little difficult to roll out. -Mm-hmm. -So we have solved that problem by adding a little bit of sour cream. -Very smart. -I have 3 tablespoons of sour cream here. Just going to measure 1/3 cup of ice water. -Keep it cold, or else the butter will melt. If the butter melts, your pie dough won't be flaky. -Mixing it together now is also going to make it easier to incorporate into the dough. Okay, so we're going to use a food processor. I have 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour already in here. I'm also going to add a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. I'm going to process this for five seconds just to get everything mixed up together. Okay. Now, I've got some butter. -Just a little bit. -Just a little bit. So they're about 1/4-inch pieces. I have two sticks of butter. That's 16 tablespoons of unsalted, of course. And I froze them for 15 minutes. So I'm going to pulse this. I just want to cover some of that butter with flour, but I want to keep distinct chunks of butter. We wanted them to be about pea-size pieces. So you can see we still have some good pieces of butter in there. Now it's time to add the liquid. Just going to add half of it at first, and we're pulsing this again, about three pulses, just to start to get it incorporated. So now I'm going to scrape the sides just to make sure that any moist bits aren't all stuck to the sides so now the rest of it, about three more pulses. So at this point, you want to take a clump of the pie dough and squeeze it together, and if it forms a nice, cohesive clump... And that looks pretty good. -Sure does. -...I'm not going to add any more water to this because it will hydrate as it sits. -Mm-hmm. -So let's just take this over here. I'm going to first remove the blade, and I'm just going to kind of smoosh this together, but if I can do this on the plastic wrap that I'll be wrapping it up with, that's going to just make my counter a lot less of a mess. I just want to make this into a quasi disc so that I can divide it, more or less, in half. -Right, half to the bottom, half to the top. -Julia, will you wrap this one? -Sure. -I'll do this one. -Yeah, so you want to form it into a round shape. If you shape it into a round shape now, it'll be easier when you roll it out to keep that round shape. -Exactly. So we want about a 4-inch disc. -Okay. -So we're just going to put this in the refrigerator and let it chill for about an hour, until it gets firm. Our dough is chilled. -Mm-hmm. -And I've already taken one disc out of the plastic. I'll make sure that I get some bench flour on my board. I want to keep a nice round shape. I like using a tapered pin. And a little trick that I learned -- Use the tapered sides of the pin so it holds the shape. -Mm-hmm. -And then you turn it again to hold the shape, but that also lets you know your dough is not sticking. -Mm-hmm. -Lattice works really well in this recipe, but a lot of people are intimidated to make a lattice-top pie crust. -Well, they can be hard with all the weaving. -So we're making a faux lattice. -Ooh, a lattice for beginners. -I'm going to roll this out to 12 inches, which is bigger than the pie plate, but that's okay because we want to have some overhang. -That is 12 inches on the nose, my friend. -Now, the challenge is always getting the dough from the workspace to the pie plate. -Mm-hmm. -I'm just going to roll my crust up onto the rolling pin and very gently unroll it onto the pie plate. -Nicely done. -Thank you. I'm going to go and lift up the edges of the crust and just let the crust sink down into the pie plate. I don't want to stretch the dough. So this looks good, so I'm just going to cover it with some plastic wrap. We just have to chill this for 30 minutes in the fridge. Would you mind? -Sure. -Thank you. I'll get started on the next one. So now we're rolling out the top dough. I think we're there. -Should we double-check it? -Yes, please. -Perfect. -So I'm going to do the same thing. -Mm-hmm. -Use my rolling pin to transfer, but I'm putting it on this parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. So now I'm going to use my pizza cutter, and I'm going to measure 1-inch strips. That's how wide my lattice strips are going to be. You know, it should be a 12-inch circle, so you should have 12 strips no problem. -Okay. -So I'm just going to cover this with plastic wrap, and I'll chill this for 30 minutes, as well. -Okay. -Julia, our crusts are nice and chilled. -And they're ready. -They are ready. So now we have to fill them. -About time. -We're starting with 3/4 cup of sugar. The only other thing that we're flavoring this with is 1/4 teaspoon of salt. And next, we're going to add some cornstarch. We're adding 5 tablespoons. We had a time of it trying to figure out how to thicken this the right way, so cornstarch worked really well. And now it is time to add the berries. So I have 20 ounces, or 4 cups, of some really beautiful, washed... -They're gorgeous. -...dried blackberries. -They almost look like little gems. -They really do. So once they're totally coated with this sugar mixture, we'll add the last flavoring -- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. -Just brighten it up a bit. -This is so bright. It's like eating sunshine. -Aw, I like that idea. -

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We want to mix this together until you don't see any white powder left. So I think we're ready to transfer it to our pie plate. -Time to make pie. -So we're just going to spread this out a little bit. Now, we're going to dot it with butter, as my grandmother would say. -Mm-hmm. -So this is 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. I've cut it into 1/2-inch pieces. We're just going to spread the joy. -

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-Now we can start the lattice. So want to space these about an inch apart. -And the finished dish, it looks just like a regular lattice, except it's so much easier. -So much easier. But first, I'm going to press my lattice to my bottom crust. -Mm-hmm. -Make sure that that sticks. So they're nice and stuck together. -Mm-hmm. -Now I'm going to take an egg that I've beaten, and this is going to be the glue that holds everything together. So I'm just going to brush the length of the strips, but I don't want to go all the way to the edge. Okay. Now I'll take the remaining four strips, and again, I'm going to go about an inch apart. So I'm just going to press these lattice pieces now. You want to get a good seal. Okay, now I can trim, and I want to extend the crust about 1/2 an inch beyond the edge of the pie plate. Now we're just going to do what we would normally do with a pie crust. We're going to turn the edge under and make a little lip that sits on the edge of the pie plate. Now we have to do the crimp. This is my favorite part. So I'm just using my index finger and my thumb to kind of make a little wedge, and I'll use my index finger to press into that. I want the crimp to be sitting straight up and down right on that edge. Okay. We are crimped. -That is beautiful. -Thank you, but we're not quite ready because we're going to brush this again. Now we're going to brush the whole thing. So I'm going to do the lattice strips and the edge of the pie crust. I have a teaspoon of sugar, and I'm just going to sprinkle it. -Mmm! -All right. Now we're going to put this on a baking sheet that we've lined with parchment paper. -Mm-hmm. -I have my oven set. It's at 400 degrees, lower-middle rack. I'm going to bake it for about 45 to 50 minutes and make sure that I rotate the pan halfway through baking. -

Chuckling

Ooh! Now, that's a pie. -It does look good. This is what we're talking about. -That's gorgeous. -It is. So it was in the oven for about 45 minutes. I rotated it after about 20. And what we're really looking for is this golden-brown edge on the crust, and we want to make sure that that filling was bubbling the whole way across so that we know that the cornstarch has cooked fully. -It's bubbling. -It is absolutely molten right now, so we're going to have to let this sit for at least 4 hours. And what that's going to do is give the cornstarch gel a chance to set up, the pectin in the blackberries a chance to set up so that we will have that nice, thick, sliceable filling. -All right. Worth waiting for. -It's been cooling. It's been setting. This looks good and firm to me. Oh, do you hear that? -Yes. Oh-ho-ho, look at that. It set up so perfectly, you could slice through. Doesn't ooze all over the plate, but it's also not straight-up Jell-O. And I have to say, that is the tidiest first slice of a pie I have ever seen. Mm-hmm. -It's just so summery. -Yes! It is like sunshine in your mouth. It tastes like summer. You can even see the flaky layers of that all-butter crust. -Mm-hmm. -That's thanks to using the right amount of liquid and just enough butter. -It's pretty fantastic, I think. -Mm-hmm. Mmm! To make the perfect blackberry pie, start with a good, homemade pie dough made with a little butter, some sour cream, and just the right amount of water. For the filling, combine sugar with cornstarch and toss in whole fresh blackberries, along with a little lemon juice and butter. Finally, top the pie with an easy "my first lattice" crust so that the berry juices can evaporate and thicken in the oven. And be sure to let it cool completely before serving. From "Cook's Country," a delicious and foolproof recipe for Oregon blackberry pie.

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-In 2015, the U.S. produced over 3.4 billion pounds of cheddar. That's a lot of cheese, and Jack is here, and he's going to tell us which supermarket extra-sharp cheddar cheese won our tasting. -We really love our cheddar cheese. -Evidently. -Consumption has doubled since 1970s. -I believe it because I know I've doubled since the 1970s. -I love cheddar. It's my favorite cheese. These are all extra sharp. -Okay. -This is not a category that's defined by the government. You can call pretty much anything you want extra sharp. Generally, it means 12 to 24 months of aging, and so it is the most aged of the supermarket cheeses. -Mm. -But there's a big difference between 12 months of aging and 24 months of aging, as we will see. You will notice they're not all the same color. -No, they're not. -In New England, cheddar is white. -Okay. -As you go to Midwest, it's generally orange, although you can still find white cheddar. And on the West Coast, it's orange. -It's orange. -Yeah. And this actually originated in England. Cheddar is supposed to really have a yellow-y-white color, and that comes from the milk having had a lot of grass that the cows were able to dine on. -Mm-hmm. -And at certain times of the year, it wouldn't have that yellow color, and so they started adding annatto, which is a derivative of a seed. It's used in butter and other things to give things a yellow color. They use a lot of annatto to get an orange cheddar, and it became a style. Interestingly, in parts of the country where the cheddar is orange, it's generally milder, too, even though they're all labeled extra sharp. -Okay. -We did the tasting the way you're doing it here. We also did grilled cheese, and we made mac and cheese. Some of the really aged cheeses didn't melt as well. They separated, especially in a grilled cheese. They could get a little greasy. So any initial impressions about these three? They look pretty different from each other. -They do. They look very different. This one tastes sharper to me. I love cheddar-y cheddar. Cheddar-y cheddar. But you're right. If I was going to melt this, I would probably go for this particular one. -All right. So let's start with what you like. -Mm-hmm. -You chose the expensive Kerrygold. -Oh. -This is imported from Ireland. This was our favorite of the aged cheeses. It melts well but not perfectly. -Mm-hmm. -It's aged 24 months, and it really has a big cheddar flavor. -I can imagine that on a cheese board. It'd be lovely. Yeah. -Yeah. So why don't we go over to this one? -All right. -So that's the Cracker Barrel. This is our overall favorite. We don't know how long it's aged. The manufacturer wouldn't tell us. But it seems like it's aged closer to 12 months than 24, just based on the way it eats. -Mm-hmm. -It has a good flavor. I mean, it's a fine snacking cheese. -Mm, it does. -It does wonderfully in grilled cheese... and was our overall winner... -Mm. -...if you just want to have one cheese for snacking and cooking. So this is the Kraft. It was towards the bottom of the rankings. It's not a bad cheese. It's just milder. Again, we think that it's aged closer to 12 months, but it's a lot about the bacteria. So there's two kinds of bacteria. There's inoculated bacteria that the cheese maker adds and then the contaminant bacteria. What's in the air, a lot of the flavor in the cheese comes from that, and that can be very different depending on where it's made. -Hmm. This one, though, is going to definitely go on my cheese board. Well, there you go. If you like cheddar cheese and you like it extra sharp, well, then pick up our winner. It's Cracker Barrel extra-sharp white cheddar cheese, and it's $3.99 for 8 ounces. Thanks, Jack. -Welcome, Bridget. -Where's the sausage?

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Weeknight dinners are all about keeping it simple, and that might mean taking a little shortcut like picking up a rotisserie chicken. I've done that. Or it could mean keeping the prep and the cooking method to a minimum, and that's what we're doing today. We're making a one-pan dinner where you cook the protein, the starch, and the vegetables in one pan, right? -Yep, it's called a sheet-pan dinner, and they're all the rage these days. You see them all over, but the problem is, you can't just throw all your favorite ingredients on a sheet pan, shove it in the oven, and expect it to turn out right. They all have different cooking times, and so that's what you really have to pay attention to, and that's what we're going to look at today. So when you buy salmon fillets -- And this is skinless. If it has the skin on, you just remove it. And it's better if you don't buy the fillets individually cut, but you cut them yourself. That way, you know they're from the same piece of salmon, so they're going to cook at the same rate, and you can judge the size better. -Great. -So this is about a 2-pound fillet. That'll give you four 8-ounce fillets. -Okay. -And first, I'm going to cut it into four fillets by cutting it in half. Then we're going to cut each half in half for a total of four pieces. Pat it dry, and all it needs is a little bit of oil and a little bit of salt and pepper. Here is 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, and we're just going to rub it all over the fish on both sides. -A little rubdown. -Little rubdown before his sauna. Here, we're just going to season it with a little bit of salt and pepper. Now, I'm just going to put these on a plate and let them hang out in the refrigerator until we're ready for them. That way, they stay nice and fresh because it's going to go on the sheet pan last. -Okay. -All right. So into the fridge it goes. With that tucked away, it's time to start with the potatoes and the broccoli, but first, sheet pan, the star of the dinner. -You need it for a sheet-pan dinner. -You do. And so, it's a nice big sheet pan. It's about 11x18, gives you plenty of surface area to work with. Also, notice it has nice sides. Don't use a rimless baking sheet here. All the juices will come all the way off all over the bottom of the oven, so don't do that. -Don't do that. -Now, we're just going to prep the sheet pan with a tablespoon of oil. We're just going to brush it on nice and evenly. So starting with potatoes -- the size of the potato matters. You want small potatoes that are about an inch, inch and a half in size. And if you use red potatoes, you don't need to peel them. One less prep you have to do. And we're just going to cut them in half. That'll help them cook more evenly, and it gives you that nice surface on the bottom to get good and brown. -Nice. -Mm-hmm. -But you do want to use waxy potatoes in a situation like this because they will hold together better than something that's starchier, like a russet. -That's right. We're going to add a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. All right. So I'm just going to toss this around. On to the sheet pan they go. I'm going to flip them all cut side down, and they all have enough room around each little potato so they can get good and brown all the way around. That's it. On to the broccoli. Now, these are broccoli crowns. We love using whole bunches of broccoli because those stems taste good, but the stems, trying to incorporate them into this fussy cooking time, not so easy, so for this, buy crowns. Trim off the bottoms, and very often, there's some dry pieces on that stem. So I'm just cutting these down into about 2-inch-size florets. I love roasted broccoli. -Yeah, you're not much of a broccoli lover at all, but roasted broccoli, Julia told me one time, was a complete game changer for her, yeah? -Yeah. It tastes like popcorn. We call it popcorn broccoli in our house. -We call it potato-chip broccoli. -Oh, anything to get the kids to eat broccoli, right? All right. So into the bowl. A little more oil, tablespoon, 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Potatoes got a half. Broccoli gets a quarter. 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper. We do the tossy-tossy. You want to make sure it's all good and coated. All right. Onto the sheet pan it goes. Now, the last trick I've got up my sleeve is a hot oven, 500 degrees, because you really want to maximize the heat to get these things brown quickly. Into the oven. Thank you. -You're welcome. -So notice I have the rack on the bottom of the oven. -Mm-hmm. -This is good because it really concentrates the heat onto the sheet pan so things get good and brown. -That's flavor. -Mm-hmm. So this is going to take between 22 and 24 minutes, and, of course, we're going to rotate that sheet halfway through. We're looking for the potatoes to be light golden and the broccoli to be dark golden. -Sounds good. -Mm-hmm. All right. So it's been about 23 minutes. Ooh! -Nice color. -Yeah, look at that broccoli -- nice and golden. -Mm-hmm. -And it is done. So I'm going to put it onto a platter and make room for the salmon. I'm using a nice, flexible spatula. This is actually a fish spatula. -Mm-hmm. -But it does really well at getting under things that are a little bit stuck to a sheet pan to make sure you get all the brown and that it doesn't stay behind on the pan. Yeah. All right. I'm going to cover these with foil, keep those warm. Now, the fish cooks very quickly, and before we put it on the sheet pan, just going to scrape off any of those browned bits. All right. Right onto the hot sheet pan, skin side down. I'm going to lay the salmon side by side but leaving a little room between. All right. And back in the oven this goes. -Okay. -We're going to cook it for about 11 minutes, until the salmon reaches 125 degrees. Of course, we're going to rotate it halfway through. -Okay. -And key -- The salmon starts in a hot oven, but we're going to let it cool down to 275. -That is going to prevent the salmon from drying out. -All right. 275, there it goes, 11 minutes. -In the meantime... -In the meantime, we're going to make a little sauce. -All right. -Now, this sauce, one of my all-time favorites. You could put this on anything -- Styrofoam, cardboard. It'll make it taste good. So here, I have 1/4 cup of chopped chives. To it, I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, whole-grain mustard, one of my all-time favorite condiments, 2 tablespoons, little lemon juice. This is 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. -Mmm. -Last but not least, a little honey, a little something to balance all that mustard. And this is just a teaspoon of honey. Little salt, little pepper. You want to taste it, or do you want to be surprised? -I want to be surprised. -All right. So we're just waiting on that salmon. -All right. -All right. -Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo! -Ooh, doesn't that look good? -Beautiful color. -Cook the salmon until it registers 125 degrees. So let's take a temperature here of the salmon. -Always a good idea to check the salmon or anything that you're checking right in the thickest part of the meat. -That's it. She's done. -All right. -So now we're going to transfer all this loveliness to a nice big platter. Ooh, look at those potatoes. -Yes. -You see that? That's what you're after. Oh, those potatoes look good enough to eat. I love it when they get a little wrinkly on top. That's how you know they're nice and creamy on the inside. We call those Shar-Pei potatoes at home. -

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I like that. And for the salmon, again, a fish spatula makes it nice and easy. -Really oiling the pan ensures that that salmon is going to come off. -That's it. Last but not least... -Mm-hmm. -...this long guy, little sauce on top. -All right. -Isn't she a beauty? -Gorgeous. -I mean, can you imagine pulling this out on a Tuesday night? You'd look like a rock star. -I feel a little...underdressed. -

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All right. I'm going to give you this nice end piece. -Thank you. -Mm-hmm. -That is stunning. -Going to get some broccoli. -And I'm going to like it. -Mmm. And you are going to love it. Few extra potatoes for you. -Yeah. -Dinner is served. -Dinner is served. All right. I'm tucking in. -Mm-hmm. I love how the salmon just flakes apart into these juicy flakes. -So absolutely succulent. -Mmm! -Ah, and the creaminess on the inside of those potatoes. -Thirty-five minutes, you get the salmon, you get the potatoes, the broccoli. You also get a sauce to go with it all. This is elevated weeknight meals, I think. -Right? -Yeah, very elegant and very easy. And the key to an easy one-pan dinner, well, it's all about keeping it simple and taking turns. Season and dress salmon, potatoes, and broccoli with olive oil. Roast potatoes and broccoli separately on the same pan. Move the broccoli to a platter, then roast the salmon with the potatoes until it's all cooked through. Serve with a mustard-chive sauce, and that, my friends, is dinner. -Mm-hmm. -So from "Cook's Country," our fabulous, game-changing, one-pan-roasted salmon, potatoes, and broccoli. You can get this recipe, along with all the recipes, tastings, and testings, along with select episodes on our website, CooksCountry.com. But you're not going to get this... -Mnh-mnh. -...like, this exact dish because I'm going to finish it. -

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-Let us help with dinner tonight. Visit our website anytime for access to this season's recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings. Or to watch current-season episodes, log on to CooksCountry.com.